Two letters from Steve Jobs

David Gelphman, former software engineer at Apple, shares a very personal, very human interaction with the late Steve Jobs:

In March 2010, just a couple of weeks before the iPad was due to be released publicly, I had a reason to contact Steve. A friend of mine was dying of liver disease and I was going to San Francisco to hopefully see and communicate with her while it was still possible. She was a friend from my Adobe days and was very much into technology. I thought it would be a treat for her to see an iPad. And I had one. But until the product was officially released I could not show it to anyone without permission from Apple management. [...]

Many people may have tried to label SJ as a dictator, but I think there are many more great things that he did, all the way from apple down to individuals in his life, that are being kept as beautiful and warm secrets inside some people's hearts; this is exactly one of them.

I personally don't think Steve was a dictator, but a man with unrelenting standards who often refused to give in and risk the quality of his products to go down. A man who believed and cherished in family enough to risk a highly secret product of Apple just to make someone's last breath just a little more happy. An amazing man to be remembered and respected.

This patient was a kindred spirit, someone who suffered as SJ was to suffer. SJ knew exactly what this person was going through and to give one small gift of joy if even for a moment is worth it. SJ was treating her the way he would have wanted to be treated, with respect and kindness. RIP

It is nice to see the much softer side of Mr. Steve Jobs. It paints a glimpse into that moment perhaps accompanied be others. Wether it is true or not (about Jobs being a dictator) this shows he still had a softer side. I don't think he was a saint but he definitely was someone that could be looked up to. And as many have mentioned perhaps the world needs more people like him.

Great story and amazing how people called Steve Jobs compassionate etc.
I'm still curious as to why, with the billions he has accrued over the years, he never gave any money away to charities or had other real form of philanthropic efforts.
...I mean besides the whole gifting us with amazing experiences of his products and forward thinking, of course.
Still, him typing "OK" to someone seems to have brought all these characteristics to someone who may not have had these qualities. His passing has brought a lot of praise of the kind of person he was, but facts can't be avoided. He didn't donate anything!
Bill Gates, Buffet -- they gave it almost ALL up. In responsible and carefully calculated ways.

But sure, this shows he was compassionate to someone who was sick. As he was..

This is a true insight to parts of the mind of Steve. His love and passion for the products were evident on stage. His love and passion for his people were evident by his willingness to risk the chance of a huge product leak, to bring someone the joy the iPad has brought us all, even if but for a moment. His short, direct response also makes you smile because of the nature and consistency of a typical Steve Jobs email reply. You won't find to many people like that anymore...

SJ was a very interesting man. I found his biography to be quite insightful as well. Things like this article show the compassionate side of the man where as he could be a real ass at times. Based on the very small amount of information that I have read about SJ, I suspect that he was on the autism scale... probably high functioning Aspberger's with touches of OCD. These conditions shaped the man and served him well at times but also crippled him. I love seeing articles like this one which gives a little peek into SJ's private (and compassionate) side.

We dont really know the attitude of Steve Jobs but i think he is a good guy, aside from giving us new devices and technology He also gives to charities. he is just like a country president he wants his people to be happy and enjoy life.

What a great story, Steve had hart, love and care for all people. That's way Apple is such success. Hope Apple can keep hart and love people. Unlike after Sam Waldon passed and greedy people starting taking over. RIP , Steve

Steve is thought of a dictator but while he created NeXT OS which Doom was coded on and combined into Apple OS to create OS X, Apple was going down. He came back and had to be a little strict to bring the company back. I hope to see more letters like this that do show his compassionate side that alot of people never got to see and should see.